Beware Of Bears – Relationships and Money – daveramsey.com

Recently read this web article and found it really interesting.  It will also help to set a foundation to the margin principle we will be teaching on this Sunday!  Check it out by clicking the link below!

Beware Of Bears – Relationships and Money – daveramsey.com.

Margin: Jesus and Simplifying

Yesterday, I began a new Sunday Morning series called Margin: Life without Limit.

Jesus understood margin and simplifying.  As we said yesterday, relationships happen in the margins of life.  I believe that Jesus recognized this truth. God loved Israel so much He gave them margins called the 10 commandments?  These laws such as observing the Sabbath day created built in margins that were designed to keep us living a joy-filled abundant life.

Well we as people like to complicate things.  Even the most religious of people complicate things too. But Jesus is the great simplifier and is really good at taking the complicated and breaking it down simplistically to create margin for us. 

From the days of the Old Testament when the law was given to the time  Jesus walked the earth, those 10 commandments had turned into 613 laws about how to live on the Sabbath and how to clean certain dishes and how to wash your hands and how to eat your food and deal in business and tithe to God and socially interact. It was a weight and a burden that left you feeling as if serving God was complicated and stressful.

But when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He responded with a simplistic margin filled response. He said, “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Mark 12:30-31 NKJV)

Jesus brought it back to relationship. Relationship with God and with others. This is the most important priority because true life flows out of relationship.  But the enemy will try and get us to live our lives at the edge and get us to believe the lie that if I just squeezed a little time from my relationship with God and from my personal relationships, I could work more hours, be more successful, make more money, have more possessions, and I would be happier.

The truth is, that lie compromises how we were created and leaves us more stressed, unfulfilled, and empty.  Ask the Lord to show you areas He may desire to simplify so that relationship can truly flow in the margins of your life.

Bargaining with God

In reading Exodus 10, I was struck by the fact that Pharaoh tried to bargain with Moses concerning letting the people go. When Moses asked Pharaoh to let the people go and then threatened the plague of locusts if he did not, Exodus 10:11 records Pharaoh saying that only the men could go and worship. The women and children and flocks and herds would need to remain.

Later when Moses threatened the plague of darkness, Pharaoh bargained by letting the women and children go but not the flocks and herds (Exodus 10:24). Again we find that this was not what God required.

The truth we find from these verses is that God is not looking for compromised obedience. Our bargaining with God by justifying partial obedience is just disobedience with an excuse. Pharaoh probably thought he was giving up a lot. After all, the male slaves were the majority of the workforce. Later, he was letting the whole family go, just not the animals. Why did they need their herds anyway?

But in each case, Pharaoh was holding onto to a part that would compromise the total freedom God desired to bring to His people.

When we bargain with God, it is usually because we are still desiring to hold onto something that is keeping us in bondage. It may seem harmless, but it compromises the total freedom God desires to bring to us.

Prayer Focus: Ask the Lord to reveal to you any areas of compromise that are holding you back from receiving the total freedom He desires to bring your way. Ask the Lord to help you to fully obey Him today!

When Trials Cease

But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. (Exodus 8:15 ESV)

When I was reading Exodus 7-9 today, I was struck by the pattern of Pharaoh. God was trying to get Pharaoh’s attention so that he would obey the Lord and release the Israelites from slavery. To do so, God would use plagues that would put Pharaoh and the Egyptians in an uncomfortable position and make life miserable for them so that they would call upon Him and do what He commanded.

But the problem that occurred was that once relief had come, Pharaoh hardened his heart and returned to his old way of thinking. It was this attitude that resulted in further plagues that not only affected him, but the people he led as well.

There are times when God is trying to get our attention so that we will obey Him. He will use difficult circumstances such as financial trouble, relational and marriage issues, health problems, and other trials to get us in a place where we will call out to Him. We saw this same result after September 11th. People streamed into churches for prayer meetings because the tragedy caused them to call on the Lord.

But like Pharaoh, when relief came, many of those same people returned to their old patterns of thinking and living. How about us? Do we return to the old patterns of life dismissing what God was calling us to do when the relief comes How many times do we make promises to God only to break them after He answers?

Prayer Focus: Today, ask God to reveal areas of your heart that you continually harden when relief comes rather then do what He is asking. Let the Holy Spirit search your heart and let the grace of God bring true change to your life.

Give God Your Mouth

But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” (Exodus 4:10-12 ESV)

In reading about Moses today in our Chronological Reading plan, I was struck by the excuse Moses makes concerning his ability speak to Pharaoh as an ambassador for God. Some have suggested that perhaps Moses had a stuttering problem as indicated by the phrase “slow of speech and tongue” and others have refuted this as simply an excuse.

The bottom-line truth of the matter is that Moses was called by God to be His spokesman to Pharaoh and to give Him a message. Moses was using his perceived weakness as an excuse.

How many times do we struggle with the same excuse? I cannot speak to my neighbor or friend about Jesus because what if they ask me a question I don’t know the answer to? What if I cannot think quick enough on my feet? I don’t want to look stupid. Surely there is someone more qualified.

But the Bible is clear that most of the time God uses people to proclaim His message of hope and freedom. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:19-21 (NIV), “And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”

The key to being an Ambassador of God is found in God’s response to Moses. He said, “I will be with your mouth and I will teach you what to say.” We simply need to trust that if God calls us to go and share with someone the truth and hope of His Word that He will fill our mouths with what to say.

Prayer Focus: Ask the Lord to teach you how to trust Him with your mouth today so that you can be His ambassador and witness to those who need to hear the message of hope and truth.

What’s Your Assignment?

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.… Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. (Luke 4:1–2, 14–15, NIV)

Fasting and prayer are essential to receiving a clear vision of God’s specific path for our lives. Many times after a season of prayer and fasting we have a more defined understanding of the part we play in the body of Christ, as well as a greater sense of our particular spiritual giftings (1 Corinthians 12).

We learn a lot from observing the circumstances surrounding the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry (Luke 4).  Notice that He went into the desert “full of the Holy Spirit.” However, He returned to Galilee “in the power of the Holy Spirit.” Being full of the Spirit is to know God and His character; walking in the power of the Spirit is when we know that we have the God-given strength and authority in our lives to walk out His will.

The power of the Spirit is essential for us to accomplish the assignment God has for us. God could be leading you to fast so that you can receive His specific instructions for your life. He will empower you not just to know Him but to walk in His power to accomplish what He has called you to do.  That’s exciting!

A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God’s boundless store of grace from day to day, as we need it. —D. L. Moody

Prayer Focus: Are there areas of your life that need more clarity?  Are you walking in the power of the Spirit and living in God’s purpose for your life?  Write down those things God is speaking to you.  As you conclude your fast, pray that God continually reveals His purpose and gives you ever-increasing clarity and strength to walk it out.

A New Wine Skin

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins. (Luke 5:37–38, NLT)

Two things that do not mix are new wine and old wineskins. The reason is simple: old wineskins cannot grow and stretch to hold the new wine. The new wine God wants to fill you with is a picture of God’s Spirit, and this wine is expansive. A container that is dead, dry, stiff, and shrinking cannot be trusted as a storehouse for God’s valued treasure. Our vessels must be prepared for the fresh, dynamic, living presence of God, because everything we do will flow from that.

This preparation comes through prayer and fasting, during which we produce a container that is ready for the new thing God wants to do. God’s new wine always changes us by expanding our faith, enlarging our purpose, and bringing renewed vision. God is not into old wineskins; it is up to us to shed them. As we seek Him in this season, let’s shed the old wineskin and ask God to fully prepare our hearts for what’s to come.

God became man to turn creatures into sons; not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man. —C. S. Lewis

Prayer Focus: What has caused you to shrink back in your expectation of what God wants to do in your life? Are you ready to be expanded beyond recognition? That’s what God’s new wine will do in and through you. Pray that the Lord will expand your life to glorify Him, giving you boldness to step out and be used by Him.

Walking in the Power of the Holy Spirit

Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. (Luke 4:14)

After praying and fasting for forty days, Jesus returned to Galilee empowered to do all the Father had called Him to do. Jesus was so powerful in public because He was so prayerful in private. To accomplish the assignments God has for our lives, we also need the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us. God does not expect us to go through the challenges of life without this power. Prayer and fasting bring us to the place where we can power up. Walking in the power of the Holy Spirit is living with a comprehension of the God-given strength and authority in our lives to walk out His will.

Through prayer and fasting, God can prepare us for what lies ahead. We might not know what obstacles we’re going to face, but we can know that God will be faithful to us. He will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5) and He will empower us to meet whatever challenges life may bring.

“Every movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.” —D. L. Moody

Prayer Focus: Today as you worship God in prayer, let Him know that you refuse to go into the future without His power and that you want all the spiritual resources He has for you.

Pray Instead

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (Philippians 4:6–7, MSG)

Worry seems inescapable in modern life. No doubt there is plenty to worry about: our kids, the economy, global warming, war, disease… Sometimes it might seem that worry has even replaced Jesus as the focal point of our lives. Jesus Himself admonished us several times not to worry. And the apostle Paul told us that there is an antidote to worry…prayer.

When we worry about something, we are spending energy on it, wondering what might happen, rehearsing the “if onlys” and “what ifs” in our mind. Why not take that same energy and refocus it on prayer instead? When we worry, we are simply talking to ourselves about our fears, but when we pray, we are taking those fears to God. We can’t control the future, but as Anne Graham Lotz said throughout her book Fear Not Tomorrow, God Is Already There, our timeless God owns the future. He knows exactly what is going to happen, and He promises to be with us every step of the journey. As we are nearing a close to this season of prayer and fasting, let’s heed Paul’s words to “let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers.” Then the peace of God will guard your heart.

“Growing an unshakeable trust in God as you face your tomorrow is not about self-improvement or mastering your circumstances, but about God—who He is, what He does, and how we can trust Him.” —Anne Graham Lotz

“We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.” —Oswald Chambers

Prayer Focus: What consistently causes you to worry? Today, recapture each worried thought and send it to God as a prayer. See how dramatically your outlook improves when the peace of God is activated through prayer!

Humility

And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” (Matthew 17:14–16)

What a great example of humility: this man approached Jesus and knelt before Him in the midst of a crowd. As the father approached, he believed that Jesus would bring his son relief. But even in his belief, his approach was humble and submitted to what Christ would choose to do. Looking further into the story, we find the father was also persistent and resisted taking offense. Though the disciples were not able to help him, he set aside his temporary disappointment in their failure and continued to seek after Jesus—the solution to his circumstance, the source of relief through his trial.

God is never late and His solution is always perfect!

Being humble before God is realizing our need of Him, submitting to His will, pursuing Him, and being confident the outcome will occur in God’s perfect timing. Be encouraged that approaching God with a heart of humility will always position you to find relief in Jesus. Don’t be ashamed to humble yourself before God, even in the presence of others. Though offenses and disappointments may come, continue in your pursuit of Jesus. You may not get relief right away but know this: God is never late and His solution is always perfect!

The higher a man is in grace, the lower he will be in his own esteem. —Charles H. Spurgeon

Prayer Focus: Prayer is a posture of humility. Humble yourself before the Lord each day and bring your cares to Him. He wants to meet you where you are and answer your every need. Pray, too, that God will help you with the disappointment and discouragement that we all face along the way. Is there discouragement in your heart today? Write it down and release it to our perfect God.